Prosecutors seized records for incoming and outgoing calls for
both work and personal numbers for reporters and general AP
offices in New York, Washington and Hartford, Conn. The Justice
Department informed the AP of the seizure on Friday.

Although the letter did not give a reason, the AP cites the FBI's
investigation into the Yemen leaks.

The AP calls this move "an unprecedented intrusion into
newsgathering."

AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt sent a letter to Attorney
General Eric
Holder on Monday, demanding the government return the phone
records and destroy all copies.

He said "there can be no possible justification for such an
overbroad collection" of the records and that the records
"potentially reveal communications with confidential sources
across all of the newsgathering activities undertaken by the AP
during a two-month period."

We take seriously our obligations to follow all applicable laws,
federal regulations, and Department of Justice policies when
issuing subpoenas for phone records of media organizations. Those
regulations require us to make every reasonable effort to obtain
information through alternative means before even considering a
subpoena for the phone records of a member of the media. We
must notify the media organization in advance unless doing so
would pose a substantial threat to the integrity of the
investigation. Because we value the freedom of the press, we are
always careful and deliberative in seeking to strike the right
balance between the public interest in the free flow of
information and the public interest in the fair and effective
administration of our criminal laws.